The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1887-01-21
THE PETRIFIED HERMIT.

THE PETRIFIED HERMIT.
The old adage THE way the twig is
bent the trees inclined" is something
we have all heard from our childhood
up. Never was the truth of the saying
o forcibly illustrated than in the
person of John Solus, a brown, knotty
little man, resembling in appearance a
stunted apple-tree. For his personal
ugliness he was not to blame. As for
his disposition, he had a peevish one to
begin with; and when he was a child
his parents indulgence tended to bend
the little twig more than ever from the
straight line. John was an only child
and no restrictions were ever placed
upon his will.
The sorrowful appeal of a mother
bird, as he made off with her nest of
beautiful eggs, never touched his heart
with pity. Cats and dogs fled in terror
when they Jaw him coming. and little
ones younger than himself dreaded his
approach. The boy was always in
trouble. He not only received ample
blame for his own mischief, but like all
other reprobates, vas obliged to father
the sins that did not belong to him.
After Johns school-days were ended he
followed the calling of his father and
became a stone-cutter. At twenty-one
the young man married a home-lovlng
girl of nineteen, rosy-cheeked, bright
eyed and healthy. The young wife
seemed to get on very we'll with her
surly, sombre-faced husband. for a
time, though conversation generally
Jagged in the Solus Homestead.
Time passed on. The rosy honey
moon was a thing of the past. 1t was
not a very happy life all in. all for
Janet, but when a little child's sweet,
innocent face appeared, things bright
ened wonderfully for the little mother.
Janet's love for baby Madge seemed
to aggrayate her hnrkendy assd sh.
many times felt obliged TO restrain her
affection for it when he was present
Yes, John Solus was jealous of his own
child. His wife's love was divided, and
the innocent babe brought with it the
first real seed of discord in the already
monotonous household. Other children
we're added to the Solus family, and,
with the advent of each, John grew
more grumpy and exacting. The pass
ing years found Janet Il Woodworking
woman with five children five growing
twigs to bend in the right direction.
Johns heart seemed TO be turning to
stone. He never played with his chill
dren, but found fault with them incess-
antly. until they learned to dread his
approaching footsteps. No young arms
were flung about his neck, no fresh,
sweet kisses were lavished upon his
lips; but a hush fell upon all the merry
makers when he entered the door. Aft
er a time John commenced wandering
off by himself, leaving no word with his
patient wife as to where he was going,
or when he would return. These alb
sences were the children's holidays,
though poor Janet sorrowed deeply over
the fathers queer ways. John declared
Janet set his children against him, and
he grew so suspicious of his two sons
that he really seemed to hate them. The
boys were now their mothers main de-
pendence, and they and their father
could not agree.
One day in a fit of jealous anger John
raised his hand to strike his wife, and
tuO uOJo, III tuCli tiSHtCOuo ioiSuuIioh
caught and held him fast. The frantic
man, after cursing Janet and the whole
family. rushed from the house, paying
no heed 10 the gray-haired widowed
mother who called piteously to him to
return. On he rushed, stamping upon
the ground in his passionate rage, more
like a fierce untamed animal than like
a human being. Farther and farther
he travelled from home until he left
many weary miles behind him. Tired
and exhausted at last, he crawled into
a lonely a v in the midst of a deep
wood, and fell asleep.
John Solus did not return to his
family. He worked here and there in
the neighboring quarries as time and
necessity prompted, and slept in the
lonely ave at night, until he became
known throughout the region as 1.-THE
hermit of Meadowville."
pretty Madge Solus was married this
morning. How time flies! 1t seemed
but yesterday that she was q lassie."
John Solus started as these words of a
fellow-laborer fell upon his ear. His
tools fell to the ground-he could work
no more that day. Quietly leaving the
| quarry he walked a'long distance lost
in deep thought.
Possessed by a feeling of wild unrest.
he commenced climbing a narrow,
overgrown path that led up the side OF
a high mountain. Talking to himself
and breathing hard. up higher and
higher he went, until nearly exhausted
he stopped to rest. He bent both ell
bows back into a crevice in the rocks,
and leaned back tired and at wal with
the world. Far below him lay the
quiet meadows dotted here and there
with peaceful houses. A beautiful grove
of pines looked like mere toy-trees in
the distance. Soft fleecy clouds sailed
over his head, and the broad smile OF
the sun lay like a golden benediction on
the valley below. What q contrast to
the beautiful scene before him was his
own swelling, an~gerladen heart, that
his wife had thought turning to stone.
Now and then. as an ugly thought
came to his mind, he kicked the earth
on which he stood. sending the loose
stones rafting over the precipice in
front of him. Suddenly he heard a
queer grating noise behind him, and
felt the earth trcmble under his feet
Then he gave one fierce, b~lood-curdling
veil of pain, and his whole body wrltbed
and tossed in contortions of agony.
while his eyes rolled in his head and
seemed starting from their sockets.
The opening in the rocks behind him
had let down the huge mass above it,
and the terrible weight had closed like
a wise oyer his elbows, and now held
him firmly p~inioned.